Organic Garden | Cummins Volunteers Support Autism Children’s School Garden

On May 23rd, 2019, it was a hot day. People tended to choose stay at home.

However, a special school for autism has witnessed the coming of a group of volunteers from Shanghai Roots & Shoots and Cummins Inc. They have deep love for environmental sustainability, and at the meantime, they also care about children. Shanghai Roots & Shoots have already helped almost 100 schools build organic garden, and this year is, the leader of corporate responsibility, Cummins Inc.’s 100^th anniversary. Today, they will build a firm and nice Square Foot organic Garden.

The pattern of children’s autism mainly involves language disorder, social communication disorder, narrow range of interest, and stereotyped behavior patterns and mental retardation. Children with autism are also called “children from stars”, as they twinkle lonely as stars.

Organic Garden Program is one of the Roots & Shoots participatory environmental education initiatives. Through creating a one-square-foot vegetable and herb garden at the schools, also called Square Foot Garden, this program can improve children’s awareness of environmental sustainability, and they will understand better that people are closely related to the nature. Today, volunteers have provided richer and greener campus environment to children with autism through their actual deeds.

Volunteers built the framework, paved soil, allocated the area, transplanted and watered with carefulness and adherence. This is a process from nothing to a beautiful organic garden. The plants in this garden is full of vitality, which provided more green in the campus to children with autism.

In this seemly small one-square-foot organic garden, children with autism can be closer to the nature, and they can draw this garden through their painting brushes. One foot can be prolonged. One square foot can be enlarged. Shanghai Roots & Shoots hope to provide environmental education to all the children, no matter what age they are and what kind of school they are in. Every child should have the chance to get close to the nature and love the nature!